Cool.
I just started using Bitwarden almost a year now. I don't know how I lived without it before? It's nice to know I wont have to switch to something else.
this post was submitted on 26 Oct 2024
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I'm nerdy enough to use bitwarden but not nerdy enough to truly understand this.
Can someone explain it like I'm 5?
Sure. The majority of the BitWarden client is licensed under the GPL, which categorizes it as “free software”. However, one of the dependencies titled “BitWarden-SDK” was licensed under a different proprietary license which didn’t allow re-distribution of the SDK. For the most part, this was never a problem as FOSS package maintainers didn’t include the dependency (as it was optional) and were able to compile the various clients and keep the freedoms granted by the GPL license. However, a recent change made BitWarden-SDK a required dependency, which violated freedom 0 (the freedom to distribute the code as you please). BitWarden CTO came out and said this was an error and fixed this, making BitWarden SDK an optional dependency once again which now makes BitWarden free software again. For the average joe, this wouldn’t have mattered as BitWarden SDK contains features that are usually favored by businesses and the average Joe can live without. So everything now returns back to normal, hopefully.
Now could you explain it like I'm 4?
Free software had a non-free extra bit that it technically didn't need. Accidentally got changed to need the non-free part in order to run which caused news stories. Now the change has been reverted so it's free again.
Now could you explain it like I'm 3?
Free cookie recipe not really free because oopsie! Man fixed it now. Cookie recipe is free again! Yay!
Now could you explain it like I'm 104?
Now could you explain it like I'm 2?
NO, LouNeko! No touchy non-FOSS.
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This seems like classic corporate backtracking when their customers spot a terrible, deliberate decision.
That being said, I am happy about it. I got my company to use it and finally got my girlfriend to use it and just recommended it to her brother. Would hate to have to try to find something else
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I was really sceptical of the CTOs first response, but this does actually seem to be genuinely good news.
If that wasn't on purpose than that was a big fuckup. I was sometimes thinking about testing Bitwarden but with this volatile license situation I'm not interested anymore.
That's a poor understanding of the situation. Nothing in the licensing changed. The SDK has always been the proprietary business to business secrets management product. The client integrates with and can use that SDK to provide the paid service to businesses. The client and the server side management of password has always been and still is FOSS.
This was apparently an accidental change in the build code (not the client code, just the building scripts) that required the inclusion of the SDK to build the client when actually it has never and doesn't really need any of that code. It prevented building the client without accepting the SDK license. Which it shouldn't.
This was fixed and some things will be put in place so it doesn't happen again. Nothing in the licensing scheme changed, at all. This is not a catastrophic enshittification event. A Dev was just being lazy and forgot to check the dependencies on the build chain before their commit.
Thank you for bringing some sanity. I get that people experience capitalist enshittification on a regular basis, but sometimes people make honest mistakes.
Bullshit. Developers never make mistakes. N.E.V.R.
Okay, I actually laughed at that one! I guess us QA folks can just pack up and go home 😆
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Thanks for the summary, it adds great clarity to seeing how it could happen
Nothing in the licensing scheme changed, at all.
This statement is incorrect. The SDK had specific source files placed exclusively under the SDK license, and the remainder of the repository dual licensed between GPL 3 and the SDK license. So the licensing scheme did change.
See also: https://github.com/bitwarden/sdk-internal/blob/main/LICENSE
You can do what you like, but the change is sane, and they've now separated their Secrets Manager, which is their proprietary software for businesses, from their primary client, which is GPL.
IMO, the internet is doing that thing again where they invent villains.
If they tried once, there ~~will~~ may be a second, but more subtle.
They didn’t try anything. Stop inventing. Go read an actual article on the subject instead of feeding the scarebait frenzy.
What makes you think this was intentional?
If this were done by MS or Apple, who lack any shred of respect left, sure. If it were a material change on how the code works, certainly it would be most concerning. But what happened was blown entirely out of proportion for who Bitwarden has been and how they've acted in the past. They are still ethically very solid. And it was an immaterial change in the build tools, that could very well have been neglectful or accidental.
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“I only read the headline and the comments from the threads a week ago, I am truly disappointed in Bitwarden’s stance against FOSS as I’ve misunderstood it.”
vaultwarden
Something tells me you're the kind of person who sees a car turn the same direction as you twice and starts freaking out that you're being followed...
Initially Bitwarden was one of the most impressive FOSS password managers, but their increasing willingness to trade user privacy for services and promotion by our favorite surveillance capitalist's is the real issue imho. Believing Privacy and Security are inextricably linked, I cannot recommend, nor use them at this time.
A quick scan on Blacklight (TheMarkup's Privacy Tool) is an eye opener.
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